"In a world that has begun to believe that financial profit is the only religion, sometimes not wanting money is more frightening to capitalist society than acts of terrorism."
Arundhati Ray

02 May 2007

Pace of city life up 10 per cent in a decade

By John von Radowitz Published: 02 May 2007 The pace of life in cities is getting faster, a study shows. Psychologists have measured the speed at which people walk and found a 10 per cent increase in the past decade.

Ten years ago, a US psychologist, Robert Levine, showed that walking speed provides a reliable measure of the pace of life in a city. Since then, that pace has speeded up, the study - from 32 countries - reveals.

The British psychologist Richard Wiseman, who led the research, said: "The pace of life in our major cities is now much quicker than before. This will affect more people than ever, because for the first time most of the world's population are living in urban centres."

Surprisingly, London is slow compared with some other cities, the results show. On the list of 32 cities compiled by Professor Wiseman, it ranked 12th.

People were in the greatest hurry in Singapore. Following in their footsteps were the residents of Copenhagen and Madrid, the two fastest-paced European cities.

The findings also explode the myth of the laid-back Irish. Dublin topped Professor Levine's table in 1997 and takes fifth place on the new list. And New York, the city that never sleeps, provided another surprise. It ranks only eighth.

There are some women that walk so fast I have a hard time keeping up. And don't get me started on the slowpokes. Can you say, "culling the herd"?

3 comments:

I thought (only because I was told so) that I was a fast walker until I met you guys.....Slow people annoy me quite honestly. Then again I've come to realize that wanting to get there fast and not wanting to be late are not always admirable qualities. We all should consider that if we slow down a bit we may just live longer? Then again that might be total B.S. and we should keep up with the hummingbirds. Actually, I've come to realize that there is a reason I drink beer and pray.....depressants balance me out - no caffeine for this red headed cowboy. I've made it a priority to notch it down a bit - in fact I feel better already

Ya gotta think that most people walking through the core of a city are commuting - getting from point A to point B as soon as possible -- rather than shlep along smelling the flowers. That's recreational. City people don't have enough time for recreation! ARGH! LOL